It wasn’t really my intention, but I was part of the “rural renaissance” of the 1970s when, for the first time in generations, many rural areas starting gaining population. In 1974, my wife and I, both Baby Boomers, moved from the civilized Front Range piedmont of Colorado to a rather remote rural area — the town of Kremmling in Grand County, Colorado, which then had about 5,000 people.
We weren’t moving “back to the land,” since about all you could grow in Middle Park was hay, on account of less than a month of frost-free growing season. The move came because the only newspaper job I could find was editing the weekly Middle Park Times in Kremmling.
But we’ve remained in rural Colorado ever since with its ups (1970s and 1990s) and downs (1980s and perhaps the 2000s).
It may be time for another Baby Boomer migration to the boondocks, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture summarized on newgeography.com, one of my favorite websites.
“As many boomers end child-rearing duties, enter peak employment earnings and ponder retirement options they are now poised to significantly increase the population of 55-75 year olds in rural and small town America through 2020, with major social and economic implications for their chosen locations,” the summary says.
It predicts that growth will come to “rural places with high levels of natural amenities and affordable housing that are already popular as second-home destinations. For these areas the economic future looks good as a potential influx of spending power and seasoned, footloose talent boosts development prospects.”
I can’t say I’m thrilled about “development prospects,” but as recent history demonstrates, these things tend to come and go.
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